Bones and Cartilage

Part I Vertebrate Skeletal Tissues 1. Vertebrate Skeletal Tissues 2. Bone 3. Vertebrate Cartilages

Part II Origins and Types of Skeletal Tissues 4. Invertebrate Cartilages, Notochordal Cartilage and Cartilage Origins 5. Intermediate Tissues 6. Lessons from Fossils

Part III Unusual Modes of Skeletogenesis 7. Horns and Ossicones 8. Antlers 9. Tendon Skeletogenesis and Sesamoids

Part IV Stem and Progenitor Cells 10. Embryonic Stem and Progenitor Cells 11. Stem and Progenitor Cells in Adults

Part V Skeletogenic Cells 12. Bipotential Osteochondroprogenitor Cells 13. Dedifferentiation of Chondrocytes and Endochondral Ossification 14. Dedifferentiation and Stem Cells: Regeneration of Urodele Limbs and Mammalian Fingertips 15. Cells to Make and Cells to Break

Part VI Embryonic Origins 16. Skeletal Origins: Somitic Mesoderm, Vertebrae, Pectoral and Pelvic Girdles 17. Skeletal Origins: Neural Crest Cells 18. Epithelial-Mesenchymal Interactions initiate Skeletogenesis

Part VII Getting Started 19. The Membranous Skeleton: Condensations 20. From Condensation to Differentiation 21. Skulls, Eyes and Ears: Condensations and Tissue Interactions

Part VIII Similarity and Diversity 22. Hondrocyte Diversity 23. Cartilage Diversity 24. Osteoblast and Osteocyte Diversity and Osteogenesis in vitro 25. Diversity of Bone as a Tissue and as an Organ

Part IX Maintaining Cartilage in Good Times and in Bad 26. Maintaining Differentiated Chondrocytes through Cell-Matrix Interactions 27. Maintenance Awry - Chondrodysplasias and Achondroplasia 28. Restarting Mammalian Articular Chondrocytes 29. Repair of Fractures and Regeneration of Growth Plates

Part X Growing Together and Growing Apart 30. Initiating Skeletal Growth 31. Growth and Morphogenesis of Long Bones 32. Long Bone Growth: A Case of Crying Wolf?

I have been interested in and studying skeletal tissues since my undergraduate days in Australia in the 1960s. Those early studies on the development of secondary cartilage in embryonic birds, first published in 1967, have come full circle with the discovery of secondary cartilage in dinosaurs12. Bird watching really is flying reptile watching. Skeletal tissue development and evolution, the embryonic origins of skeletal tissues (especially those that arise from neural crest cells), and integrating development and evolution in what is now known as evo-devo have been my primary preoccupations over the past 50+ years.

"...gives an updated impressive overview that integrates development and evolution of the skeleton and covers of a tremendous wealth of various topics...An impressive achievement that sets standards." --Bulletin of Fish Biology

"I would recommend this book for all graduate students in the health sciences, and as a dentist I would specifically recommend it to the dental specialties: orthodontists, endodontists, oral surgeons, periodontists, and oral pathologists. The information is presented in a clear concise manner with ample figures and extensive references. As a practicing periodontist with over 30 years of experience, I have found this book both useful and engaging. It now has a prominent position among my desk reference books. It is one that I will visit on a regular and frequent basis." --William Stenberg, DDS, MS, MPH, Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology Rockmore-King Clinic Kodiak, AK, USA

"This is the book that will set the standard for the field for decades to come. It covers everything from the elementary to the highly sophisticated and the obscure detail. This is a great resource!" -Gunter Wagner, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University